My eternal nemesis Tim Fernholz (j/k) insists that Obama's new attack ad works, citing the media coverage the ad, which calls John McCain "Washington's biggest celebrity," is sure to receive. We have yet to see if it "guarantees" the kind of media coverage Obama is looking for, but I wouldn't be surprised if the talking heads just do what they are comfortable doing, which is draw false equivalences between Obama's and McCain's tactics thus far. If in giving the ad coverage, political personalities on TV conclude that the ad is both petty and ineffective, then I wouldn't exactly call that a victory. As far as simply responding to McCain, any ad would do, but this one has the added disadvantage of giving people the opportunity to play the "Britney" ad again for context. So more free air time for McCain, too.
But my guess is, more than anything else, this ad will allow for a lot more David Broder-style centrist handwringing, where the press pretends that the candidates have been equally personal and disdainful of each other's character. That just isn't the case.
-- A. Serwer
